Why are we paying $50 for instant coffee?

Instant coffee creeping past $50 for a jar is a symptom of wider pressure on coffee prices, economists say.New World is this week advertising Moccona classic medium roast in a 400g jar for $53.99.A listing for $50+ instant coffee at New World supermarkets.SuppliedWoolworths has it on special for $42.99.Woolworths said there were a number of factors that influenced the price of coffee including a tightening global supply, market volatility and a weaker New Zealand dollar.Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said global coffee prices were high, in part due to poor weather in some of the major producing regions, such as Vietnam and Brazil."Those production cost pressures will have been compounded by the recent increases in global fuel costs."At BNZ, chief economist Mike Jones said he was caught out by the price when he went to buy more instant coffee on Sunday."A classic global supply shock appears to be at the root of the big price increase, in part caused by adverse weather. The global price for coffee is volatile but roughly doubled over the past four years. We haven't seen the full extent of that in NZ but the low NZ dollar over the first part of the year probably would not have helped given it raises the cost of imports."Stats NZ data showed the average price of 100g of instant coffee has risen from $6.25 in July 2019 to $8.02 in July this year. It dropped as low as $5.40 in late 2020.Commenters on Reddit expressed surprise at the price Moccona had reached."I've changed job now, but in my old job I was making around $850 a week working full time. When I see this coffee at nearly $50 that's like 1/17th of my weekly pay just to get a coffee. If I went shopping and bought coffee, milk, some chicken breasts, shower gel, cereal, and bread, that would likely be between $80-$100, like 1/8th of my entire income just to eat for a couple of days," one posted.Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make and spend money